Downfall of the Core
by AgentShade
Summary: One year after the Unwound Future, Luke goes to America (Sacramento, California) as a foreign exchange student. At the same time, Layton goes the same town to visit a American friend from Grade 10. Little do they know they're going into a mystery with the people they learned to trust most, and three people in this mystery realize they can use for their own advantages.
1. Body Control

_Attention riders. We are landing at our destination in 10 minutes. Please buckle your seatbelts.  
_Luke sighed a breath of relief, a hint of joy and anxiety flickering inside him. The joy of getting off this ten hour plane ride was getting him; so was the anxiety of meeting his temporary new family. He put his tray up, disposing his cup in the cart that happened to come by. He didn't need to buckle his seat belt; he had only unbuckled when he went to the bathroom; he didn't feel safe unbuckling it otherwise.  
Soon enough, he felt the weight of the plane shift downwards, then go in a downwards motion. The motion made him jump, despite the tight seat belt; this is the first time he'd ever been on a plane, the first time he felt that downwards motion underneath his body. It felt foreign to him; everything about planes did. He didn't think planes were this dense, or moved this gracefully through the sky.  
Luke looked out his window, for the hundredth time today. Like for the whole ride, he saw fields, splotches of different colors, but he also noticed to glimpse of the ocean in the distance, and that the plane was a bit lower than before. As the minutes passed by, Luke could feel his ear pop, making him cringe as the ground became closer and closer. Lucky for him, his ears didn't pop anymore on the rest of the way down. The plane started to come down a little faster, making buildings barely visible to the naked eye. Before he knew it, Luke felt his stomach drop as the plane dropped elevation faster. His ears popped again, but this time he held back his cringe.  
The plane landed on the ground, and Luke could hear the wheels scraping on the concrete, going just as fast as it did in the sky. Slowly, the plane slowed down, slower, slower, slower, then went into a stop. _You may now unbuckle your seat belt. Please pick up your entire luggage before exiting the plane. Thank you, and have a nice day.  
_ Luke unbuckled his seat belt faster than intended and immediately got up, his vision crowded with blur and black for a second, causing him to feel dizzy. He blinked rapidly before catching his balance and stepping out of his seat. He reached for the handle above him, pulling it upward and standing on his toes to reach the bag. His legs shook as he placed it on the ground, amazed his arms didn't give out. He had just entered adolescence; his muscles weren't developed enough to carry it properly.  
Despite the long line in front of him, it didn't take long for him to get to the front of the plane and go into the tunnel connected to it. He started to run, but suddenly realized he shouldn't. _Gentlemen don't run in public, _Luke thought. _Well, unless it's necessary, which it's not.  
_ The thought of behaving like a gentlemen made memories flood into his head; he remembered how Professor would remind him all the time about acting like a gentlemen, all the puzzles they solved together, all the places they've been too… _It feels so strange all that happened only last year, _he continued thinking. _It feels so recent, yet so long ago at the same time…  
_Luke came out of the tunnel, rows of chairs in every square of rug, TV screens above them. A hallway was in the middle of the room, busy with people pulling or carrying their luggage. He walked out of the walkway of the tunnels into the rows of chairs, then down the hall. After what felt like hours of walking and going up and down staircases, he could see circles, the center black with an outer circle a few feet below around it, covered in gray shutters. Each circle said _Luggage Pick-Up _with a black screen filled with flights underneath, shown in an irritating shade of red. However, Luke didn't need to check the flights on any of them; he brought his two medium sized suitcases on the plane.  
He strolled by the big circles, looking at his surroundings, not positive on where he was going. He sat in a convenient bench, hoping to gather his thoughts and to figure out where he was going.  
And that's when he had to go to the bathroom.  
He grumbled and got up, having to lag his luggage with him. He suddenly felt weaker; his legs tripped over themselves, causing him to lean to his side before catching his balance, but he couldn't save his luggage, as they dropped on the ground with a _thump_. Luke's joy and anxiety got replaced with displease; it was enough he was in a foreign country with only the sun with his back, and that he wasn't sure where he was going. Trying not to break down in public was making it worse.  
He didn't pay much attention to him surroundings as he got up and fumbled with his stuff. All he cared about was finding a bathroom. Within a couple minutes, a hint of his joy went coming back as he saw some bathrooms. He walked as fast as his legs were willing to, feeling like he was accomplishing something for some reason.  
Before he could react, he suddenly felt another body ram into his. "Aaag!" Luke yelped, stumbling back and dropping his items once again. He let out an annoyed huff before bending down to pick up his stuff.  
"Sorry!" a deep feminine voice exclaimed, bending down, picking up one of his suitcases. "Don't sweat it," Luke said with as little annoyance as he could manage, getting the suitcase he picked up into his arms, taking his other one from the girl he bumped into. Luke stood up fully, seeing who the heck bumped into him. She was obviously a teenage girl, but was hard to tell her exact age; Luke was guessing she was his age. She had short messy auburn hair that that stood out in the bland gray and tan walls of the airport. She had rich brown eyes that were mostly neutral-expressional, but if you looked carefully, there was a little annoyance mixed in there.  
_I hope it's not because of me,_ Luke thought.  
Near the bottom of his vision, he could see the girl holding a big white sign under her arm. He couldn't see all the letters from where he was standing, but he could spot out 'LU' with "TRI' underneath. He wanted to ask what that sign said; both words had the first letters of his first and last name. _It's probably just a coincidence. Why would a teenage girl be wondering around, looking for me? _Deciding not to ask, he started to walk off.  
"Sorry to bother you even more," the girl said, touching the front of his shoulder with the edge of her fingertips, "but have you seen any 14-year-old boys around here?"  
Luke shrugged. "Yeah."  
The girl let out a breath of relief. "Where did he go?"  
Luke smiled a little bit when he said, "Actually, you're looking at him."  
"Oh," the girl said, her eyes widening a hint, her body leaning back just enough to be noticeable. She then looked dumbfounded, as if she didn't understand a joke until 10 minutes after hearing it. "Gah, I should have known earlier. After all, you have an accent," the girl said.  
Luke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"  
The girl made a little sigh, almost too quiet for most people to hear. "What I mean is I should have known that you're Luke Triton the second I heard your voice because of your accent."  
Luke raised both of his eyebrows. "Accent? Just what are you talking about?"  
The girl looked like she was holding back a laugh, her lips creasing into her face. "Oh, never mind," she said with a hint of amusement. "Anyway, I'm Serene. You're going to be living with my brother, my mom and I." She held out her hand.  
Luke shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lu-oh wait, you already know who I am."  
"Well, duh," Serene said, motioning him to follow her. "Hey, do you want some help carrying your things?"  
"Oh no, I'm sure I can take them," Luke reassured. Coincidentally bumping into Serene had caused his bladder to forget it was filled up; Luke then remembered his rush to go to it, feeling happy it was willing to wait.  
Serene lead Luke all the way to the front doors of the airport, where a woman tucking her hair behind her ears and a boy that looked a little younger than Luke were waiting. _I'm guessing those are her mum and brother.  
_Serene stopped next to her family. The woman stepped up first, holding her hand out. "Luke, this is Kaylene. Kaylene, Luke," Serene said, standing in between them.  
"Wow. I didn't know children called their parents by their first names in America!" Luke said, shaking Kaylene's hand.  
Kaylene shook hands with Luke before rolling her eyes at Serene and whispering to him, "We normally don't. Serene just calls me by my first name to get on my nerves."  
The boy went up next and shook hand with Luke. "Tyler."  
"Luke," Luke said.  
"I know," Tyler said. "My sister covered that."  
Kaylene shot Tyler a glare. Luke didn't want to say it, but he found her glare somewhat amusing; he hid back a smile the best he could.  
"Sorry Mom," Tyler muttered.  
Serene picked up Luke's bags, shoving one into Tyler's arms. Tyler was clearly about to hand it back to her when Luke said, "Don't worry. I can carry them." "I'm sure you're sick of carrying them after all this time," Serene said. "We're letting you have your arms free. Right, Tyler?" Tyler didn't answer, walking off, carrying the bag so low it was almost dragging on the ground. Luke heard Serene sigh as he followed her outside.  
He almost grinned as he went through the glass door, taking a deep breath, but coughing when he realized how polluted it is in front of an airport.  
Serene turned her head about one hundred eighty degrees. "You okay?"  
"Yeah," Luke said, coughing a few more times before getting all the polluted air out of him. Luke's very small grin turned into a frown when they stopped at a sign with the number 8 on it. "Why are we stopping?"  
"Let's just say it took a long time to find a parking spot, and we ended up being farther from the entrance than we intended," Serene said.  
"Sorry," Kaylene said. "We know you're tired enough, from the plane and time cha-"  
"No worries!" Luke said. "It's okay, really!" Luke frowned again, remembering more of Professor's words; _Gentlemen do not interrupt a lady. Darn it. I hope she didn't mind my interruption. _Fortunately, Kaylene didn't look offended and said, "Oh, but…if you say so."  
The bus came a few minutes later, and because if the bus being next to empty, everyone was silent as the bus went down to the parking lot. In the beginning it was a reassuring silence, but Luke felt awkwardness prick at him as time wore on. He wanted to say something; he just wasn't sure what to say. The bus made an irruptive stop in front of a several story stone lot, making Luke's stomach jump. The shock didn't last long; Luke stretched his legs and followed his temporary family out, Serene and Tyler still carrying his bags.  
"What floor is your car on?" Luke said as they stepped in the low-ceiling building.  
"The fourth floor," Kaylene answered, pressing the button on the elevator.  
Luke having the thought of going into an elevator made his legs more jumpy; he then wanted to dash up the stair, run around the lot, do _something _that involved his legs moving. But he knew it would be rude to just suddenly start to run; he patiently waited for the elevator to come down.  
As if one queue, Tyler then asked, "Hey Luke, do you want to race up the stairs?"  
Luke gave an asking look to Serene and Kaylene, wanting to say yes to Tyler's request more than anything. Both girls glanced at each other, then shrugged. Luke's grin returned. _I take that as a yes._ "Absolutely."  
"Okay!" Tyler said. "3…2…1…Go!"He took off just as Luke stood in the same place he was.  
"That's not fair! You got a head start!" Luke exclaimed, taking off.  
For the first story of stairs, Tyler was ahead of Luke, but for the next two Luke caught up to him. However, the fourth was different. The holding feeling in his bladder returned, making it harder to run._ Damn it! How did I forget I had to go?  
You don't have to run much longer. You can hold it, Luke.  
_But when he finally got halfway thought the floor, he wasn't so sure. Luke felt a wet drop soak his knickers._ No, no, no!_ He ran faster, using his strength to hold his bladder. He was using so much strength in his bladder he started to slow down.  
He heard Tyler mutter a 'yes!' as he sped ahead of him. When Luke reached the last step, he let go of the strength a little bit, feeling more wet in his knickers. He got his strength a hold of his bladder once again, amazed how well he was pulling through. "I win, slowpoke!" Tyler said, jumping up.  
A few seconds later, the elevator door opened, and Kaylene and Serene walked out. "Did you? Good job!" Serene said.  
Kaylene frowned. "You didn't let our guest win?"  
"It was only a friendly competition," Luke reassured her, trying not to jiggle his legs. "On a completely different topic, is there a bathroom around here?" Kaylene looked around before saying, "I'm afraid not. You'll either have to go back to the airport or wait until we arrive at the house.  
Luke held back a cringe, biting his lip. Kaylene must have noticed because she said, "Do you have to go badly?"  
"Yes!" Luke exclaimed a little more desperate then he wanted to.  
"We'll get home as fast as we can," Kaylene said. "Serene, Tyler, let's go!"


	2. Drawn In

A paper flew out Serene's locker, fluttering to the ground, landing a few feet away. She sighed as she picked it up, bonking her head on the top of her locker as she bent down, reached for it, and picked it up. Her locker rang from her head bonking into it, flying to the edge of its hinges. Still ringing, it flew to the opposite edge, barely touching it before stopping in between the two edges. Serene stuffed the paper in the crack of two binders, choosing to deal with it later. She then closed her locker and pushing the lock into its locked form before taking long steps through the hall, only focusing on going to her next class.  
Serene passed groups of kids chatting and goofing off, unaware of Serene's existence. That was normal; nobody ever seemed to notice Serene.  
Throughout middle school, cliques would a little too often have their backs turned on her, as if non-verbally saying, "You can't be with us, bitch." Serene didn't always know if they just happened to have their backs turned at that moment or if they were really rejecting her, she could never tell. She knew cliques didn't typically like her; probably because she didn't like them.  
Serene soon past the groups, the hall fading to quiet again. With such a big portion of students in cliques, the halls remained quiet; the unpopular and the people with no clique hung out in this hall. Serene knew some of them, but she only had one true friend who she met with in this supposedly hidden hallway.  
This friend was the guy now a few feet away from her, leaning the top half of his body on the wall, her hood covering his forehead. Even though he didn't bother to make her hood cover his identity, his green and black bangs covered his round eyes and thin eyebrows, just what you may expect the hood to cover.  
"Hey Eric," Serene said, leaning on the wall the same way as her friend, putting her body and binders next to her.  
"Hey," Eric said, flipping his bangs a tinge so she could see the auburn haired girl. The two almost inseparable friends stood in silence, watching the world go past them. They weren't the type of friends that would chat endlessly about whatever came to their head; only the cliques did that. Both of them saw their friendship as if they were two males; they usually didn't say much to each other, but they would sometimes have enjoyable conversations.  
Eventually Eric broke the silence by asking, "So, how's the British student?"  
Serene felt a pang of realization drop on to her; she had forgotten about Luke's existence. _How did I forget so easily? He came yesterday, and that's all Mom's been thinking and talking about._ Serene tried not the cringe at the incoming thought of her mom and her obsessive nature; she was always in a loop over one little thing, not thinking about anything else, pushing everything out of her way just to let her obsess. This deep flaw in Serene's mother made her want to scream; she saw it as rather childish behavior, not something an adult should be stuck going through.  
"Oh him," Serene said, blinking several times, trying to recall a memory of him. "There's not much I can say about him. He's only been in America for 18 hours or something."  
"There has to be _something_ you can say about him" Eric said, playfully punching Serene's Eric did punch a little hard, Serene enjoyed his playful punches; it was another thing she valued in their relationship.  
"Well…" Serene stopped for a moment to let herself think. "He's pretty nice, and really polite. He gets along with Tyler and me."  
Eric took a shallow breath and opened his mouth to talk, but closed it again. He then closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. Serene wondered what he was going to say, but thought she would be better off to not bother him about it; knowing his personality, she wouldn't wring it out of him very easily.  
Serene picked up her backpack and opened it up, fishing around for her usual snack. She often times would put in on the top so it would not get crushed and spoiled from her heavy binders and book, but she could not sense where he snack was with her hands. Confused, she lifted her backpack to eye level, looking inside carefully. She gripped on to the rough, rounded handle on top of her backpack with her left hand, going through her bag with her right. She moved around binders, dipping her arm into the cracks, feeling for a wrapper.  
Frowning, she started taking her stuff out and throwing it on the ground around her. She hardly ever put her things on the ground, let alone on a ground like a school hallway, but she didn't know how else she was going to find her snack. Serene grunted in frustration, practically putting her head in the backpack. _Just where the hell could it have gone?  
_It was then when she noticed the tips of Eric's bangs in her vision. They have known each other for such a long time they even had an idea how they took their stuff out of their backpack. "Trying to finding something?"  
Serene looked over at Eric, and was really not surprised that he has picked up her binders and was holding them in his arms, waiting for her to take them. It was always typical for friends to pick their friend's stuff of the ground, but Serene knew the main reason he did it was because he didn't like things getting dropped.  
Still looking over, Serene wiped a bit of sweat from her eyebrows. Her body temperature, especially in her chest and face, would rise rapidly when she was agitated. And of course, she was inside a heated building, which only worsened her agitated heat crash.  
Serene tried not to roll her eyes as she replied, "No, I just wanted to see how long my binders would slide on the floor."  
Eric looked mentally confused for a second, but then realized she was using her sense of sarcasm and chuckled.  
"No need to apologize for making a stupid question," Serene said, taking her binders from her blue haired friend and putting them in her left underarm. "You should hear the teachers."  
"I already have," Eric said. "I just don't know how even your best friend can't beat your sarcasm."  
Serene sighed as she took her binders out of her underarms as soon as she put them there and put them in her backpack. She was tired of looking for her damn snack. She zipped her backpack and put it back on the ground as she asked, "Eric, did you bring any food?"  
When he didn't answer, Serene's face became a suspicious glare before looking at Eric. He seemed like he was thinking, but Serene knew that wasn't the case.  
She was about to ask him what he was holding back and that he might as well admit it because she wasn't going to kill him even if she didn't like his answer, but then the bell rang for the end of break. Serene let out another sigh before saying. "Bye Eric. See you soon enough."  
"Bye," Eric said with a wave of his hand before walking off.  
Serene sighed for a third time; she didn't like having to leave her best and only friend. But she had no choice; she was required to go to her next class, required to see people she disgusted but had to work with anyway, and required to waste an hour of her life surrounded by nothing that mattered to her.  
When Serene arrived to her classroom, she plopped into her seat and clumsily put her binders on her desk, causing them to slide a hint. She propped her elbow on the desk and rubbed her forehead and eyes with her fingers, letting her face relax. Just as she felt the tension flee out of her, her two right desk legs rattled, causing her eyes to fly open and her propped elbow to slam on her desk.  
"Yow!" she half-whispered, half-yodeled, jerking her arm off the desk the second pain rushed through the bone. She then lifted her head up, looking around her right side, searching for the cause of the rattle.  
Before she could identify who caused the rattle, she heard a British accent loudly mutter, "Sorry!"  
_I should have known it was Luke.  
_ Serene shifted straight to the voice. Luke was now at the right corner of her desk. Not really thinking, Serene grumbled, "What the hell did you do to my desk?"  
"Nothing!" Luke said, stepping back a little. "I just tripped over one of the legs!"  
"That's still doing something," Serene shot back. She was about to go back to her own business when she realized something was up. "Wait, what are you doing in junior's world history?"  
"Juniors?" Luke looked confused. "What are _you _doing in junior's world history?"  
Serene glared at him. "Hey, I asked first."  
"I thought this was a freshman class!"  
"Now just _what _made you think this is a _freshman _class?"  
Luke tilted his head a hint. "Aren't _you _a freshman?"  
Serene made a weird-looking face, half shocked, half confused. "No, I'm a junior."  
"Really?" Luke said. "No wonder I've hardly seen you around. You must be smart to have skipped two grades."  
Serene's shock and confusion flipped into rage. She opened her mouth to yowl at him about the fact she was older than she looked, and it felt worse because he rubbed in it deeper then he should have, but her attention just had to get diverted to a bunch of giggling coming from her opposite side. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she turned her head to her left.  
Serene rolled her eyes a second time, almost exactly like the first. There was a guy and a girl standing right beside the next closest to hers, looking straight at her, covering their mouths to hide their giggles. The girl soon realized Serene was glaring at them like a cow looks at an incoming train, her face freezing into place, but the boy could not shut the hell up. Serene gave a hard glare to both of them. "What's so hilarious about me to get you to laugh at my presence?"  
The boy actually found a way to shut the hell up, and then rolled his eyes more dramatically than Serene even thought a human could roll their eyes and scoffed, "Why would I be laughing at _you_?"  
Serene felt irritated heat rise inside her body. _Man, everything about Max makes me scream. Why am I even talking to him? I should have just kept my lips shut.  
_"Um, geez, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're looking _straight _at me."  
"Was I?" Max rolled his eyes. "Well, stop being so personal, Serene. Just because I was looking at you doesn't mean I'm laughing at you."  
"You're not convincing me," Luke objected, raising an eyebrow. Serene flinched at the fact she was about to say the exact same thing, but she didn't think about it much because she having a difficult time holding back a grin, but fortunately not as difficult as Max and the girl standing next to her were. She would never admit it, but she thought Luke looked a little amusing when he raised an eyebrow.  
Max's focus shifted to Luke."Butt out, foreign boy," Max snapped.  
Serene told herself to not interfere with Luke's problem, but her instincts screamed at her to get off her ass and do something. It felt wrong to her just be a bystander; Serene always had fierce courage over standing up to people. You'd have a much higher chance with getting an argument out of Serene rather than tears; it's not easy to mess with her. It was hard to tell why; despite her wittiness, her fierce courage didn't come out of experience; she had been born with it. Deep in her soul, Serene could remember how the popular boys in elementary would tease her with their comments on her alternatively colored hair, her originality, the way she could never blend in. They would always find some excuse to tease her, but not matter how hard they tired they would eventually give up. Serene wasn't sure if they didn't want people know they would get outsmarted by a girl or they were just sick of her. _Probably both_.  
"Maybe you should butt out, asshole," Serene said, standing up and pushing her chair behind her.  
"Psh, since when was _I _the one butting in?" Max snarled.  
Serene crossed her arms. "Since always."  
Serene expected to her 'oooh' from a few students, but as she moved her eyes in her vision range, everyone was getting prepared for class, oblivious to more or less everything around them. Even the girl had left and was talking with another guy. _Huh, I thought a girl standing up against a guy was something people would be willing to watch; it's quite an obscurity.  
_ "I-I'm gonna go now," Luke stammered as he took a few steps back and rushed out.  
Max stood on his toes and called out above Serene's head loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Good!"  
A few students looked up from what they were doing and noticed Max, but they soon got back into their own world._ Wow. Not even _that _did the trick.  
_ "Back to our actually somewhat important conversation…" Serene trailed off because Max was already walking away, waving her snack in the air. Serene scowled. She would have stomped on over and took it, but she knew it was worthless; Max was like a six year old inside a sixteen year old. He didn't listen to anyone, not even adults, and lied about everything someone could lie about.  
_I should have known it was him! But then again, how could he have taken my backpack_…?  
Serene made what may be becoming her signature sigh as she propped her elbow back up and started rubbing her forehead once again.


	3. Red Ribbon

Author's Note: This chapter came out faster than usual because I would always post them here later than on other sites. I want to change that though, so the chapter release schedule is a little different.

Layton semi-turned around, closing the entrance of the police station behind him. He pushed it a hint more, making sure it was fully closed before heading to the bus stop a couple blocks down.  
Layton's legs grazed over the sidewalk, gazing at the hints of sunset coming up into the sky. He cleared his thoughts as he enjoyed the evening air slowly cooling, the fewer cars on the road, and knowing a long day of teaching was finally coming to an end. He sat on the bench, continuing to stare into the horizon until his ears heard the sound of the bus screeching to a stop.  
He got up and pushed himself up the steep steps right behind the entrance, said his little greeting to the driver, and sat in his usual seat. _I'm not sure if I should call it my usual seat, _the college teacher thought, his face somewhat tilted to the location of the window. _It's not a regular basis I ride on here…not anymore.  
_He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he knew the reason of his abandoned routine was described in one word: Luke. Life was different for Layton without Luke; there were less and less mysteries going around without him. He knew Luke was never the cause of the mysteries; but despite how innocent and clever Luke always was, Layton though it was funny how his life-changing moments and mysteries happened in Luke's presence.  
Layton let out a little sigh, not wanting to drown himself in nostalgia. It took him long enough to get used to Luke's absence; he didn't want to be in that stage all over again.  
He sat patiently in his seat for the rest of his short little trip, and before he knew it the brakes of the bus screeched as the door opened at the sidewalk of his destination. He stepped down from the bus, the now orange hue of the sky catching his eyes. He admired London's unusual sunset, noticing the clouds appearing with a similar hue of the sky, the sun letting off less and less light, then walking down the path to his job and part time home.  
He pushed through the front doors of what he could call his home, feeling the cool air change from the fresh outdoors to the chills from the ground and walls. His footsteps echoed through the unusually empty hallway, the buffered sound attempting to interrupt his thoughts, but were failing to do so. It didn't take long to reach the entrance to his cozy office, where he lifted himself from the deeper part of his thoughts as he took of his coat and put it on the convenient hanger next to the entrance. He then sat down on his old but still comfortable couch and breathed a relaxed sigh.  
Layton carefully lifted his oval-shaped tea filled cup off of his coffee table that sat in front of the couch, holding on to the handle with the tips of his fingers, softly blowing the heat smoking from his drink. He put his lips on the edge and slowly drank it down, the pleasant warmth filling through his body.  
The sudden slam from his door startled him, causing him to grasp on to his cup with a bit more tension. He controlled the tension and grasped his cup like he did previously when he realized it was just his housekeeper Rosa. Rosa walked past the couch and adjusted her bandana before saying, "Hello Professor."  
"Why hello Rosa," Layton said, putting his cup of tea on the petite plate before setting it back on the table.  
Rosa picked her duster out of her apron pocket and dusted the shelf that resided a few feet away from her desk. "How did you like the tea?"  
Layton stood up from the table stretching his legs. "It was quite alright."  
"Excellent," Rosa said, a small grin on her face. "Flora helped me pick it out."  
Layton kept his face and posture straight at the mention of the innocent, kind girl, but his thoughts were quite different. _Flora?  
_"Did she?" Layton said with a hint of confusion.  
Rosa had started dusting the cracks in between the professor's many rows of books, paying little attention. "…Yes."  
"Rosa…" Layton stepped out of the thin crack separating the coffee table and the couch, now standing a close distance from Rosa. "…Flora hasn't been here in months."  
Rosa looked away from her lovely dusting and semi-turned her head to the left, her revealed face in a thinking, confused state. Then she twisted around. "Now I remember. That's a little strange for you to say that…I vividly remember her coming in here today."  
"_Today?_" The black dots taking role of Layton's eyes widened. _Out of all the days she could come around…  
_"You're not the only one who was surprised," Rosa continued. She drew her duster out of the final shelf and put the duster in her apron pocket.  
Layton could understand his along with her surprise; like always, Flora popped up when they least expected it. The professor realized he shouldn't be so stunned due to that fact, but she did really appear when they least expected it. Coming into someone's life like that will leave them thrown off. "You don't seem very stunned, Rosa."  
"That's because I was stunned already," Rosa said, heading towards the door. "Now it's your turn."  
Layton smiled in amusement. "It seems to be."  
Rosa couldn't help but smile the same way. She then opened her mouth to talk, only for Layton to open his at the same time. They closed it in unison, but Rosa quickly opened it again to say, "You first."  
"Thank you," the archaeologist said, tipping his hat. In some cases, he would have done his gentleman ways and let her talk first. This time, he decided to accept her offer with a polite reply. "Speaking of Flora…what was she doing here?" Layton said. "She didn't come just to make me tea, did she?"  
"Oh no, of course not," Rosa assured him. "She just likes helping me. She came here for something supposedly quite important."  
Layton raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what may that be?"  
Rosa took a deep breath, her mouth forming a perfect linear shape when she let her breath out. "I'm not sure if you will believe me or not, but…she came here to give you a letter."  
For a few, long seconds, Layton did not know how to react. The only sound he could hear was the gears turning in his brain, attempting to fully digest the maid's words. After those few, long seconds, he let out a little gasp.  
If a different person was in Layton's position, they would have not reacted like that; Layton usually displayed only traces of his emotions. However, Layton was in his own position, so he reacted how he would react to something like Flora, out of anyone, delivering a letter.  
"Well…that's unexpected." the professor said, letting his gaze go to the ground while keeping his head up. "May I have it?"  
"It's on your table," Rosa said, adjusting her bandana once again. She made sure everything her pockets were secure before heading out. "See you later, Professor."  
Turning his head to his door, the archaeologist said, "Good bye Rosa," before Rosa opened the door and shutting it gently as she exit.  
Layton then looked down at his table. In the dead center was a white envelope. Well, of course. Unless you go to some alternative store, all enveloped are white. However, this envelope looked different to the professor's eyes; unlike most envelopes, it was a very bright white, lighter and brighter than most paper he'd seen, and there was no return address that could explain the odd color.  
_Is this someone I know? _Layton thought, raising an eyebrow. _I've never seen paper this bright; I haven't seen a whole lot of my friends or acquaintances have paper that looks like this.  
_That was when he noticed the letter was lacking more than a return address; it had no address on it at all. The only words printed in the middle were 'Hershel Layton' in cursive handwriting.  
The professor tapped his chin. The_ only logical explanation is for Flora to have written this. However, this is not something she would typically do…she would have most likely told me anything supposedly important in person.  
_Layton let out a little sign, undecided if it was really her, and if she wasn't the author, why Flora was the one who delivered it, but he didn't know how to get these desperate answers. He then picked up the letter and opened it carefully, thinking it was best not to rip it. _This letter could be important to keep in the future._  
He slipped the letter out of the envelope, placing the too white envelope back on the table and held the letter in both hands. The letter was just as white as the envelope, but there was something more noticeable about it that caught his attention; a little "oh?" escaped his lips at the sight of a deep red ribbon keeping the letter in its folded state.  
The red ribbon screamed 'Flora' in Layton's mind; after all, the ribbons she often had in her hair and the dress she wore regularly were red. However, he knew it was too out of character for her to do. _Flora doesn't know a whole lot of the people I know, considering we haven't traveled together that much, so it's not that possible for her to have delivered it _for _someone….but there's a post office in town. Why would they make her give to it to me instead of there? _Layton's tried to think of a logical explanation, but he couldn't know how to answer his own questions with a snap of his fingers; he decided to put that off for when the time came to a place where he could answer his questions.  
The archaeologist carefully untied the letter, grateful it did not have a tight knot, as he didn't really have any nails to pick at a tight knot with. The ribbon fell on to his left hand, each end visible to him, the middle section tucked under the envelope. He discarded the ribbon, putting it next to the envelope and opened the letter. He took a deep breath before reading it:

_My old friend Hershel Layton, _

_How long had it been now? Around 23 years, I presume. It's hard to think it's been that long…it feels like just last week we were walking to school together.  
I have written to you hoping you still contain my memory, despite all this time. Even if you cease to, I still have you in my thoughts. I can never forget the one who wasn't a judgmental asshole and let me escape what was my home then with respect and acceptance.  
You helped me through my teenage years enough that I don't know I can repay you. It may have been 23 years, but just a drop of kindness in the moment goes a long way. As I sadly don't know your address, you may never get this letter, but I want you to know how much I continue to have faith in you and that if you ever happen read this, I want you to see me in America. There are important matters I can only trust you with.  
Of course there's more to that story…I don't see a point in explaining. I may be the only person who ever sees these words. I will only explain if I see your face again.  
I live in Sacramento, 100 miles from my previous home. If you chose to come, wait at the hotel. _

_Your Grade 10 friend,_

_Adrian Roberts _

The professor's jaw had dropped and he had stepped back quite a few feet in the middle of reading, a very uncommon thing for him to do; however, he would have never expected in dozens of centuries would he hear from his American friend.  
Layton took slow steps back to the table and set the letter down, letting himself go into what was known as his thinking state; he crossed his arms and let the weight off his eyelids. This letter gave him an awful lot to think about.  
He changed his mind, walking from his table to his couch; he had a long enough day already. An even more uncommon thing occurred to him; he took off his hat and set it on his table. He lied down and closed his eyes, but there was so much going on in his head he couldn't fall asleep.


	4. Shadow

Luke did not like school here.  
The lingering atmosphere that flickered through the halls discomforted him; it felt foreign to him, a little too foreign, creepy, and dirty. There wasn't anyone creepy or dirty in particular that he'd seen; but those two adjectives were always left behind no matter where he walked.  
He let out a big huff, thinking, _Just how has Serene survived two and a half years of this place? _A new thought he was convinced was logical popped into his mind._ Well, she had skipped grades, and maybe one of them was freshmen or sophomore year…heck, I'll be surprised if I'll get through the entire month I'm here._  
Luke gritted his teeth, his not so lovely mood wanting to stand out of him at the fact he still had another class. _The day has been long enough already…I think it's been…6 hours by now? _The English adolescence didn't know for sure; most of the clocks in the building were in classrooms, and he didn't pay very close attention to them even in there. It felt worse enough that he didn't know what time it was, and there the rare sight of there being no one in the hall to ask, but he wasn't positive what part he was at the school along with that.  
Every row of lockers, every set of walls, and every square of the building he could see looked the same._ This must have been boring to build, having to construct the same thing a hundred times.  
_The 14 year old let his gaze skim the hallway, finding it useless to look for anything in particular, but having the urge to move his eyes. He couldn't but help notice the sharp gleam of the ground; it was unusual clean for a giant, almost century old high school like this. Luke would think there would be dust bunnies and dirt sticking to the edges of the walls, and papers and trash fluttering on the ground, but there was none.  
Despite the gleam and scents of the hall, Luke felt himself lost as if he was walking through a row of trees rather than a contained pair of walls; he felt the shadows of the windows as if they were shade poured on to him, but without the chill.  
He led himself to the edge of the hall in between two small sets of lockers, setting down his turquoise backpack and taking out his binder. Holding on to his backpack with his left hand, he yanked out his worn out binder with his right, his left hand sabotaging the backpack to grasp the spine of his binder. He opened his binder and dug in the front pocket, pulling out a paper full of shaded grey boxes. His eyes skimmed down the list, looking for his answers with frustration.  
_Hmmm…first period eight o'clock to eight fifty five, second period nine o'clock to ten o' clock…  
_Before Luke could skim the rest of the list, he could feel the mere hairs on his neck rise. He raised an eyebrow, temporarily letting the thought he somehow couldn't tell how many classes he had left leave his mind. It was abnormal enough for a person to stare at what he felt like was an average person like him, but what made the abnormality greater was that he knew for a fact there was no one else in the hall. Too eager to know what made his neck hairs go up at that speed, he simply placed his schedule in the front of his binder and placed it on the ground. He then turned around, keeping his face and movements neutral.  
In his front line of vision, there was nobody in sight, as if nothing had passed through this hall except him for…days? Weeks? _Months? _He couldn't tell.  
However, Luke was smarter than to just shrug it off; he left his stuff overlap each other at the wall and stood in a fully straight position.  
"Hello?" Luke called out, his accented voice echoing off the walls. The 14 year old heard something inside him saying that saying, 'Hello?' wasn't going to get whoever was slinking in these halls to pop out, but he didn't know how else to respond.  
Luke froze in his spot for several long, silent moments, saying as still and quiet as he could to detect the other being's spot. However, he couldn't stay frozen for long; he figured if nothing happened for the amount of time he was in this state, nothing was going to happen sooner or later. His instincts stayed in control; rather than forgetting about the situation and continue being the lost little boy he was apparently being, he slowly turned around and cautiously put his items back into his backpack. He zipped it slowly; adrenaline rushing whenever a more powerful sound of the zipper alerted his ears, but even when his backpack was all packed up the hall remained in the same state.  
He walked closer to the center of the hall as quietly as he could, holding back curses when his show made even a slight sound. He began walking down the hall, his intention of staying quiet still in his mind, but a realization soon crossed him.  
_Why am I trying to be so quiet anyway? _he thought, standing in a straight position, his two fingers landing on different sides of his chin. _There's clearly been nothing in the hall for…I don't even _know _how long. It wouldn't hurt to walk like a normal person now.  
_The English adolescence just shrugged and walked on, trying to forget those last uncomforting few minutes he had pulled himself through. He reached the turn, a flame of hope rising inside him; he wasn't sure what he was hoping for exactly, whether it was finding someone who could tell him where the hell he was in the school, or the time.  
The sudden thought of time switched Luke's consciousness to another part of his brain; his vision and hearing filtered out of his present position as he was absorbed deep into a memory. Though they weren't too often, there were times when his mind could sabotage reality, going deep enough in thought to alarm anyone. Luke knew it wasn't an uncommon thing; he'd seen Layton do it plenty of times, and other people he knew.  
_Layton…_ Ironically, the memory he felt himself dive into involved that very man. Spoken words flooded into his mind; words said in the conversation of the memory were passing through is brain. Though he could hear the words, he heard them without his ears; only his mind. He had little understanding on how anyone could hear without their ears; he did understand how the brain was also involved in hearing, not just your ears. However, the though still triggered him.  
A small gasp escaped Luke's lips at the realization of the words vanishing from his internal hearing. His senses guided back into reality, his vision returning to its working state. He could no longer see inside his bright, young mind; he was stuck with having to look at the gloomy halls of the high school.  
That wasn't all he could see in his spectrum of vision.  
To his right, he could see long, skinny legs sliding down the floor, at a quite fast rate. The legs belonged to a somewhat tall, dark person wearing a black hood with black bangs hanging from the edge of the hood. The hood and bangs concealed much of the person's face, but Luke could make out icy blue eyes and pale, smooth skin.  
Thanks to the professor he had lived with for three bumpy years of his life, the 14 year old was quite aware on how to properly greet a person; even a stranger, for that matter. However, he felt his knowledge on socialization slip away from him at the sight of this person. He knew there couldn't be much of a reason why his skills slipped; he had encountered plenty of people in his life, a big portion adults, some of those adults unstable. Yet he had the ability to speak in front of them, he had no nerve to talk around this mysterious teenager that was coming his way.  
The older adolescence came farther down the hall, seemingly giving little attention to Luke. That didn't help Luke's emotions, however; shivers of discomfort continued to rattle through his body.  
_I don't know what's going on with this guy, _Luke's thoughts managed to ramble, _but something's really off about him. I just can't put my finger on it…  
_Luke used all his might to open his mouth to speak. He could only take a small breath to say his first words before freezing again.  
The dark-emotion teenager was only feet away now, realizing Luke's presence, but paying little attention…or so Luke thought. Luke closed his mouth, jumping to the conclusion of this boy being just an unusual being that was passing by him like anyone else would; however, he could soon see his conclusion proven wrong.  
The older boy lifted his head up, revealing his pale, round face and his oval shaped, icy blue eyes. Even with his head lifted up, it was difficult to see his entire face altogether; his long bangs were shaped in a way to attempt to hide his face. Regardless, Luke could still identify this person who was making his senses and instincts shiver.  
His instincts suddenly relaxed, tension releasing out of Luke's bones as the stranger simply passed him, and still looking at him with those icy eyes, but by his behavior meant no threat.  
Luke made the decision not to move until he was out of the dark teenager's sight and hearing range before having the will to move again. Now that the thought was floating across his mind, he had next to little knowledge why he felt so haunted from merely an older teenage boy; he hardly noticed Luke's presence in the first place. Whatever was going on, the 14 year old didn't want to spend any more time focusing on it; he was in a pretty damned confused situation already.  
He let out a gigantic sigh, letting himself continue on his lost search of where he was suppose to be at this time, or what was _happening _at this time, for that matter.


End file.
